If There Are Fauns

In the inner city of Vienna, I was lying on a hard stone bench, only softened by a thin layer of moss. Over me there were large green leaves, each in the size of a small garden pond. A beautiful large bird flew over my head and let out a scream of friendly welcome. I would have liked to get up to watch his flight, but I was just too exhausted to do so. Through the dry grass, that was growing out of every crack between the heavy stones that are covering the ground of Stephansplatz, walked my new found muse. She looked satisfied as she examined the surroundings, that I have managed to create in this dreamlike dimension. It still looked like the Inner City, but there was nature everywhere. Gigantic plants in deep jungle green have conquered the tall old buildings around us, there were birds nesting on the little playful ornaments of Stephansdom, and lions sleeping at the feet of the golden Pestsäule on Graben. A tall lioness came over to huddle against the fair muse. Her fingers stroke joyful through the fur of the majestic beast. It was a picture of peace and beauty and although I couldn’t move enough to sit up, I could smile. The muse gave the lioness a kiss and then came over to me. I haven’t noticed that I was shivering, till the muse calmed it down with a single gentle touch of my cheek.

“I love this place”, she said and her warm words filled my soul with sweet hope. “It is detailed, the air smells of flowers, the temperature is pleasant and there is wonder everywhere. Well done.” She looked down at my tired face. “It is alright to be exhausted. Don’t be that strict to yourself.”

“I… I didn’t… I couldn’t manage to complete the other tasks”, I said with a weak voice.

My muse broke into laughter. It took her a while to calm down to speak: “You are always complicating things!” Apparently it was really funny to her, because she laughed out loud again. “You are really cute”, she smiled. “You already picked a mortal muse. Why don’t you show her to me?”

“I did?”

“Well, there is someone, you are thinking of a lot lately”, she said whilst looking in my thoughts. “Oh, I see it is a man. And you have a nice title for him: Favourite person you haven’t-… what is it exactly?”

“He is my favourite person I haven’t met yet”, I said, suddenly strong enough to sit up. “He is very inspiring!” I wanted to explain: “There are so many things I want to do because of him. I don’t know, where to start. I use his work, when I am feeling down. He always has the right colours, if you know, what I mean! I really don’t know, how to describe it.” The last months – or was it years? – I spent watching this man on the telly and yet, whilst having the feeling of understanding completely the reasons why, I struggled to explain the concept of the art and beauty of Noel Fielding.

“He is an artist and a comedian”, I tried it again. “He is funny, he makes me laugh and he is colourful and gives me a better feeling about reality. I like the world more, if I think about Noel Fieldings existence. If someone that magical can exist in this reality, then there can be more magic. It is the same concept as with the faun, I met-…” I stopped abruptly.

“Are you ready to talk about the faun?”, my muse asked with a certain strictness.

My mouth opened, but there were no words.

“Is this why this faun is so important to you? Because his existence brightens up reality?”

I nodded, suddenly shy. “If there are fauns, there can be muses”, I whispered.

The beautiful muse grinned. “That is simple logic”, she said amused.

“So tell me one thing, is this Noel Fielding also a faun?”

This was a question I really wasn’t prepared for. “I… I don’t know. He might …?”

“Do you plan on meeting him one day?”

Again, I felt very shy. “That would be lovely, but I don’t see how. He is a British comedian and Bake Off-host, I can not see, where our paths could meet.”

“But you would like to?”

I could feel my cheeks blushing, while I nodded vigorously. A giraffe was about to pass us. It stopped briefly to receive a kiss from the wonderful muse and to my delight, it afterwards turned to me. I touched its soft furry nose with my lips, before it went along its way again. “Make a plan”, my muse told me. “How would it be possible for you to meet him in person? But beware, if you meet him, he can’t be your favourite person you haven’t met yet any longer.”

I smiled. “I could live with that, I guess.” And then I added: “If I would meet him, I could maybe tell, if he is a faun.”

My muse nodded and with a wink in her eye she said: “This is always an interesting matter for a muse.”

Tell me: Do You have a “favourite person You haven’t met yet”? Who is it and would You like to meet this person?

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One thought on “If There Are Fauns”

For the moment : the artist and writer Marjane Satrapi – I recently finished “Persepolis” and I am in love and really inspired by her way of storytelling, her brilliant illustrations and her intelligent sense of humor.
I would’nt mind drinking a cup of coffee with her sometimes.